Resources in Early American History
Legal exactRecords in genre [X]
Official Government Documents and Records in genre [X]
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Legal Records (15)
Official Government Documents and Records[X]
Business Records and Accounts (3)
Miscellaneous (3)
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Family Correspondence (1)
General Correspondence (1)
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1Author:  unknownRequires cookie*
 Title:  Pennsylvania. General Assembly. The Great Law, 1682     
 Dates:  1682 
 Abstract:  This collection contains a copy of the Great Law signed between William Penn and colonists when he arrived in the colony in 1682. The original is in the State Archives of Pennsylvania. Influenced by Quaker principles, the Great Law listed the crimes and punishments that the new colony would enforce and aimed to regulate morality and behavior.

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 Call #:  Mss.345.12.P38L 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colonial Politics | Government Affairs | Law | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
2Author:  Marshall, John, 1755-1835Requires cookie*
 Title:  Opinions delivered in the circuit court of the United States     
 Dates:  1803-1831 
 Abstract:  This collection contains a series of federal circuit court decisions rendered by John Marshall. The cases heard span a wide range of areas and include such topics as international law, property, banking, bankruptcy, estates, laws of evidence, and trade. Among the cases he heard was Livingston v Jefferson, which involved property rights related to the United States' purchase of the Louisiana Territory. There are also a series of cases in 1819-1820 involving merchant ships that seem to be related to fallout from property disputes from the War of 1812. One case relates to the Bank of the United States.

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 Call #:  Mss.345.41.M35 
 Extent:  0.5 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Government Affairs | Law | War of 1812 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Bank of the United States (1816-1836) | Judicial opinions | United States. Circuit Court (4th Circuit) 
3Author:  State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of PennsylvaniaRequires cookie*
 Title:  State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Records     
 Dates:  1819-1955 
 Abstract:  These two volumes record the admissions to Eastern State Penitentiary for the years 1839-1850 (excluding, apparently, 1844). The records contain a wealth of information about each prisoner admitted. The entries often contain a physical description of the inmate, a description of the crime(s) committed, and, occasionally, statements the prisoner made. Most entries contain a detailed biographical history of the prisoner that includes information on the background of the criminal, such as their family life, how they were raised, previous incarcerations, and the social habits of the prisoner, such as drinking in taverns or their religiosity.

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 Call #:  Mss.365.P381p 
 Extent:  0.5 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Government Affairs | Law | Philadelphia History | Social Life and Custom 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Prisoners -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia | Prisons -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia | Women prisoners -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia 
4Author:  Various authorsRequires cookie*
 Title:  Deeds, 1703-1798, for land in Pennsylvania     
 Dates:  1703-1798 
 Abstract:  The Deed Collection is a miscellaneous assortment of land deeds and indentures from Pennsylvania.

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 Call #:  Mss.974.8.D363 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  Land and Speculation | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Deeds -- Pennsylvania. 
5Author:  unknownRequires cookie*
 Title:  Documents relating to the Wyoming Controversy, 1751-1814, 1823     
 Dates:  1751-1823 
 Abstract:  This volume relates to the controversy between Pennsylvania and Connecticut over control of the northern third of what is today Pennsylvania. While much of this documentation is available in printed sources – namely the Pennsylvania Archives and the Papers of the Susquehanna Company – these are originals of these documents. Some of the documents in the APS collection do not appear to be part of these printed collections, notably a series of legal documents and pronouncements that contain marginalia that may be of interest to historians. The documents span the entire period of the controversy, with the first documents dated from the 1750s and the last ones from the early nineteenth century. Many are manuscript copies of originals.

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 Call #:  Mss.974.83.D65 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colonial Politics | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Land settlement -- Pennsylvania. 
6Author:  Feinstone, Sol,1888-1980,colleRequires cookie*
 Title:  Sol Feinstone Slavery collection, 1773-1888     
 Dates:  1773-1888 
 Abstract:  The Feinstone Slavery Collection complements the much larger Sol Feinstone Collection of American Revolution. This smaller collection (one box) contains documents pertaining to slavery in the early republic. There are records of sale and emancipation along with some correspondence and other miscellaneous materials. Much of the material is from Virginia.

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 Call #:  Mss.326.F33 
 Extent:  0.5 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  African American | Early National Politics | Pennsylvania History 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Abolition, emancipation, freedom | African Americans -- History -- To 1863 | Reconstruction | Slavery -- United States. | Slaves, slavery, slave trade 
7Author:  unknownRequires cookie*
 Title:  United States. Constitution.     
 Dates:  1787 
 Abstract:  This collection contains Benjamin Franklin's copy of the United States Constitution. It has Franklin's annotations in the margins.

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 Call #:  Mss.342.73.Un3c.d 
 Extent:  1 item(s) 
 Topics:  Early National Politics | Government Affairs | Law 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records 
8Author:  New York (State). Supreme CourtRequires cookie*
 Title:  Account pertaining to his appeal of a jury verdict, to the Privy council, ca. 1766     
 Dates:  Circa 1766 
 Abstract:  This bound volume contains two printed documents. One reproduces court records for a trial in 1764; the other contains resolutions of the New York Assembly.

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 Call #:  Mss.347.9.F77 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Colony and State Specific History | Law 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records | Printed Material 
 Subjects:  Trials (Assault and battery) -- New York (State) 
9Author:  unknownRequires cookie*
 Title:  Papers of American Loyalists, 1782-1798     
 Dates:  1782-1798 
 Abstract:  The Loyalist Collection contains ten documents that pertain to the interests and affairs of American Loyalists after the American Revolution. The items convey the grievances of Loyalists, particularly merchants. The documents of relate to how the states treated Loyalists and their property after the Revolution. Most of the documents are either official government documents or formal reports. Reports by the Committee of American Merchants, a Loyalists group that formed in Britain after the war, are included as are records relating to the disposition of Penn family interests in Pennsylvania. Also of note is a multi-page, loose-leaf list of loyalists and their claims on the British treasury for services rendered during the war.

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 Call #:  Mss.973.314.L95 
 Extent:  10 item(s) 
 Topics:  American Revolution | Colonial Politics | Government Affairs | Land and Speculation 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records | Political Correspondence 
 Subjects:  American loyalists. | Commerce. 
10Author:  Philadelphia (Pa.).Mayor.Requires cookie*
 Title:  Record of indentures of individuals bound out as apprentices, servants, etc., and of German and other redemptioners, 1771 October 3 - 1773 October 5     
 Dates:  1771-1773 
 Abstract:  This large volume contains the records of those entering contracts of indentured servitude in Philadelphia from 1771-1773. The records not only list the name of the person, but contain details on their profession and on the terms of the indenture. Although the volume is described as the records of German immigrants, there are other indentures included, such as that of John Slour, "a free negro," records of those arriving from Ireland, and of young Philadelphians choosing to enter indentured contracts. The volume had been on loan to the City Archives until 1987. During that time, approximately twenty pages went missing. Otherwise, the volume appears to be complete and contains over 800 pages of records with each page containing information for about four to six individuals.

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 Call #:  Mss.647.P53 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  African American | Business and Skilled Trades | Government Affairs | Philadelphia History | Social Life and Custom | Women's History 
 Genre:  Business Records and Accounts | Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Apprentices -- Pennsylvania. | Germans -- United States. | Indentured servants -- Pennsylvania. 
11Author:  Hicks, Isaac.Requires cookie*
 Title:  Isaac Hicks account books, 1772-1797, 1810-1824     
 Dates:  1772-1824 
 Abstract:  These two volumes record Isaac Hick's financial transactions in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where Hicks was a magistrate (justice of the peace). The volumes cover the American Revolution and early republic. The types of transactions recorded are generally payments for services, although other transactions are recorded, such as how much he paid for whiskey. The volumes contain a name index in the front.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.H521 
 Extent:  2 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Business and Skilled Trades | Government Affairs | Law | Trade 
 Genre:  Business Records and Accounts | Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Judges -- Pennsylvania. 
12Author:  Cassin, Charles Luke, 1846-1878Requires cookie*
 Title:  Charles Luke Cassin papers, 1745-1878     
 Dates:  1745-1878 
 Abstract:  The Cassin Collection is heavily focused on Charles Luke Cassin's correspondence in the late nineteenth century. Charles Cassin was a physician in the U.S. Navy in the late-nineteenth century. His family's roots date to the colonial era. There are approximately seven documents from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, however. This portion of the collection includes three legal documents from colonial Pennsylvania that were likely handed down through the family: one is a will for Aaron Thompson dated 1745, another is an indenture from 1758, and another is a copy of a court decision in Berks County in 1774. There are two letters from James Mullins to Eliza Cassin relating to their past affairs and children. Finally, there are official documents relating to Joseph Cassin, Charles Luke's father, including a commission in the U.S. Navy signed by James Madison.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.C274 
 Extent:  70 item(s) 
 Topics:  Marriage and Family Life | Military History 
 Genre:  Family Correspondence | Legal Records | Military Records | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Medicine -- United States. | Trust indentures. 
13Author:  Zehnder, J. A.,recorder.Requires cookie*
 Title:  Bankruptcy notices, 1842-1845     
 Dates:  1842-1845 
 Abstract:  This volume contains a list of bankruptcy filings in Philadelphia with their creditors listed. There is very little additional information aside from names, docket numbers, and court dates.

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 Call #:  Mss.332.75.Z3 
 Extent:  1 volume(s) 
 Topics:  Business and Skilled Trades | Law | Philadelphia History 
 Genre:  Business Records and Accounts | Legal Records | Miscellaneous | Official Government Documents and Records 
 Subjects:  Bankruptcy -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia. 
14Author:  VariousRequires cookie*
 Title:  Pennsylvania Stamp Act and Non-Importation Resolutions Collection     
 Dates:  1765-1775 
 Abstract:  This collection contains a range of documents on the imperial crisis in Philadelphia. Specifically, the documents focus on the Stamp Act and the Non-importation agreements of 1773. For the Stamp Act, there are many letters from John Hughes, the Stamp Tax collector. The letters detail his tribulations. There is also a large, oversize letter from John Hughes to the Commissioners of the Stamp Office in London defending his actions and outlining his experiences during the Stamp Act controversy (first page missing). The documents surrounding the 1773 boycott of tea in Philadelphia include detailed reports from commissioners appointed by residents to negotiate with the East India company officials and the testimony of the firm of James and Drinker who were designated distributors of the tea.

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 Call #:  Mss.973.2.M31 
 Extent:  2 volume(s) 
 Topics:  American Revolution | Colonial Politics | Government Affairs | Pennsylvania History | Philadelphia History 
 Genre:  Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records | Political Correspondence | Printed Material 
 Subjects:  Non-importation agreements, 1768-1769 | Sons of Liberty | Stamp Act, 1765 | Tea tax (American colonies) 
15Author:  Smyth, Frederick, 1732-1815Requires cookie*
 Title:  Frederick Smyth papers, 1756-1816     
 Dates:  1756-1816 
 Abstract:  Frederick Smyth was the Chief Justice of New Jersey before the American Revolution (appointed in 1764). Before that, he lived in England, Barbados, and Martinique. This collection of Smyth papers contains a range of official documents that relate to political and legal matters in New Jersey. The legal documents include petitions, reports to the grand jury, and official pronouncements and commissions. There are also several pieces of private correspondence. Some of the earliest documents contain information on Smyth's career before arriving in New Jersey. There is also a deposition relating to the firing on HMS St. John in Newport, Rhode Island in 1764 and a series of other documents relating to legal and political affairs in Rhode Island during the imperial crisis. Of particular note are two long speeches Smyth delivered before a grand jury in 1775 and 1776 in which he defends the Crown, a response to these speeches from the grand jury defending American rights, and a long letter from Edward Affleck in 1783 describing the British departure from New York City. Smyth stayed in Philadelphia after the war, although he never relinquished his British citizenship, and there are a few documents chronicling his post-war experience.

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 Call #:  Mss.B.Sm95 
 Extent:  0.25 Linear Feet 
 Topics:  American Revolution | Colony and State Specific History | Law 
 Genre:  General Correspondence | Legal Records | Official Government Documents and Records | Political Correspondence 
 Subjects:  Judges -- New Jersey. | Legal instruments -- New Jersey.